Ransom Noble's Blog, page 30

What a cool interview with Penny Sansevieri about promoting books!

She reminds us that social networking can be taken too far. (Can you imagine having a presence on 350 sites? I don't think I could manage all those if I did it all day and never slept.)

So where do you choose to have a presence, and why? She might not answer all of those questions for us, but each writer has different needs. No matter how much you promote, remember that next book is also important to keep working on. She has a p...

Before I was published, I had no idea how much of the promotion would be on my shoulders. I think I had a lot in common with other writers out there. Promotion wasn't on my radar. I didn't know what my brand was, or if I had a platform. What I knew was that I had stories to tell.

In the process of telling my stories, I can't live in a vacuum. Sure, the story will be there, but professional development in the form of classes, critique groups, and professional memberships bring ideas for...

At the most basic level, this question is directed to the writer. Who are you going to share your work with? I'm guessing you're going to share it with the people you know. This probably includes your friends and family, as well as a critique group and online reviewers if you belong to those communities. Some writers don't.

Others aim for larger audiences. I hesitate to say higher, because if you're happy with your audience you shouldn't worry about it. It's not a higher goal if you're not...

What are you looking for in a writer's workshop?

I see these advertised online and off, and I wonder what it means to everyone out there. I should also mention I teach a class about speculative fiction writing, but it's not online – or it isn't yet.

Partly what I like about teaching is the discussion aspect, but I can't speak for my students. I like to touch on basic things like plot, character, and point of view, as well as more genre-specific things like background and world-building.

Each...

While this isn't the most fun part of writing, it is a useful tool to move on the way to publishing. (Or, at least, a better final product.)

I got a critique yesterday, as I mentioned, at the SCBWI-Iowa Spring Conference. It wasn't all good, it wasn't all bad, and it held at least one gem from my critique group. I knew they had a point when they brought it up, but I was hoping I'd solved it enough to keep going.

The answer is, I haven't. I need a satisfying resolution to the puzzle. It's not...

I attended today! It was all I could manage of the three day conference, but I got there. They offered a manuscript critique (of synopsis and first ten pages) from an agent, author, or editor.

First, the manuscript critique… I'm still mulling over the advice. I thought of one of them after I'd sent it, so that's something. And my critique group had been wondering about another thing she brought up. I have to figure out how to fix the things she pointed out. I'll owe a thank you to Laura...

A fair number of people learn by mistakes. We try things, we fail, but there is knowledge gained in each venture. So many adults fear the attempt. It may not be the truth, but it does seem like the older one gets, the more afraid they become to try something new.

Perhaps that's why my nephew, at two years old, could take his daycare provider's cell phones and make calls. He had no fear. When do we learn that fear? Some of us may never learn it.

There's a difference in learning by mistakes and g...

Authors don't work like other people. We grab snippets of time for our novels where we can. At least, those of us who aren't lucky enough earn our living each day writing.

So how many moments do we need to finish our masterpieces? Do you cram it in at the end of the day? Do you get up early to manage a few quiet moments before the other inhabitants wake?

Dedication means working in the stolen moments – but when is the downtime?

Everyone has a talent. Some of them might not seem so stellar or business-worthy, but you can find an aptitude to something. Some people sing. Others draw. If you wandered here thinking I'm talented at writing, well, today I'm not so sure. What I might really be good at is math.

Don't ask what I'm doing being a writer then. It's not that I stink at it. (At least, I hope not.) This is a difficult profession and it takes a lot of work to get anywhere. So I have to have at least a little talent t...

I try to do this every day. Sometimes it's difficult to choose the right books to read.

Writing and reading are related activities. I think about everyone agrees that reading to your children is a great activity to involve the family, but what do you read to your kids?

I vaguely remember the scene from Three Men and a Baby where Tom Selleck is reading to the baby from a sports magazine and telling one of the other guys, "It doesn't matter what you read, what matters is the tone you use."

Finding...